A ROW has broken out between a fire service and union bosses about whether two fire engines need to be at the scene before firefighters can enter a burning building.

Last Saturday, The Argus reported how East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service (ESFRS) managed to send a second engine to only 43% of life-threatening call-outs within eight minutes, failing to meet a target of 50%.

In response, ESFRS said the first crew on the scene of callouts “did not have to wait for a second crew to enter a building”.

However, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has hit back at the response and accused ESFRS of being “dishonest with the public”.

Simon Herbert, chairman of East Sussex FBU, said: “It goes against their own policies for dealing with fires where people are in need of rescuing. For ESFRS to place firefighters in such a moral dilemma, to either have to wait for the necessary numbers of firefighters to arrive on the second and third appliances or to act outside of safe operating procedures, is totally unacceptable.

“ESFRS’s standard operating procedure states that a minimum of 11 firefighters are needed to safely make rescues and extinguish a fire at a domestic property of two storeys. Should the premises be larger, then more firefighters are needed.”

ESFRS strongly refuted the FBU claims it was dishonest and did not follow national guidance.

A spokeswoman said: “For all life-threatening incidents, we send a minimum of eight firefighters who are supplemented by an additional fire engine to ‘persons reported’ fires – fires where we believe that people are unaccounted for.

“As with any incident, the officer in charge of the first crew on the scene will assess the dangers and risks to both members of the public and firefighters.

“This is in line with national operational guidance for the fire and rescue service, which recognises that in exceptional circumstances, the incident commander may make a very difficult decision to deploy firefighters wearing breathing apparatus where the resources available are limited but where there exists an opportunity to preserve life or take action that will prevent an incident deteriorating.”

Mr Herbert said he had reported ESFRS to the Health and Safety Executive.